Do You Carry A BUG?

[Abraham]

I don't.

Too much weight and bother for me.

As it is, a knife, an extra magazine, a flashlight and my main carry weapon is enough gear to make a sherpa cringe.

Eventually, I dropped carrying the flashlight too. Again, too much gear to weigh myself down with. I got tired of listing to starboard.

So, I wonder how many of us started out with the idea that too much is never enough ultimately decided to lighten the load?

You?

[AEA]

My Main carry is a .45 ACP 1911 with 25 rounds available. Another 16 rounds in 2 mags in my car.
Normally I do not carry a BUG. But if I know beforehand that I am going to a High Crime area I will carry one. When I do it is a snubbie .38 Special ultralite (with +P's) in an ankle holster. Very light and once you get used to the ankle holster being there, you forget about it.

[Charles L. Cotton]

I have experimented with carrying a BUG, but I can't find anything that works for me. It doesn't work for me at work because my suits are cut for a handgun on my right side, but not for two guns. My casual pull-over shirts aren't big enough to cover two guns and if I buy bigger shirts, it looks like I'm wearing a sack. One gun IWB is comfortable; two guns IWB absolutely are not! Again, I could buy bigger jeans and slacks to get enough clearance in the waist, but then nothing else fits right.

I tried an ankle holster many years ago and didn't like it at all, but I haven't tried one recently. A friend, accomplished shooter, very talented instructor and maker of the best concealed carry holsters on the market has a great saying, "I haven't carried a gun in years . . . I carry two." This is a man with a lot of actual experience "ducking rounds" as he says, sometimes not ducking fast enough, so his dedication to a BUG is significant. I wish I could learn his secret.

Chas.

[The Annoyed Man]

My main carry is a Kimber Ultra with 2 backup magazines. I've wondered about having a BUG, but have never really practiced it. I live with a bit of neuropathy in my feet (from an old back injury) and a chronic tendinitis in one ankle, and ankles that occasionally swell just a bit, so I'm afraid that I would not find an ankle holster bearable. I do occasionally carry a 642 revolver or a P3AT in a front pocket of my jeans, but don't do it if I am also carrying my Kimber because it is just too much for me to carry around comfortably. I've tried carrying both a few times, and I just don't like it.

OTH, when my feet, ankles, and back act up too much, I also carry around (and use) a nice stout piece of hawthorn root as a cane. It is truly worthy of being called a shillelagh, and if wielded as a bat, might prevent you from ever needing to draw your gun. Think "Walking Tall."

[longtooth]

I will stick a K-T P32 in my back pocket pretty regular.

[carlson1]

I rarely carry my 1911 much anymore. I started carrying a bug (Smith and Wesson 340PD in .357mag). Then I decided how easy it would be to just carry two 340PD. They are very light. I wear a lot of suits and they are light enough they do not weigh my pants down. That gives me 10 rounds of .357 magnums and two revolvers in the front pockets. I feel comfortable with that and there is always a surprise in the car or the truck.

[NcongruNt]

Yes.

My regular carry is a Hi-Power worn at around 3:30 in a Galco Combat Master OWB holster. For backup, I have a Ruger LCP, usually in an Uncle Mike's pocket holster in my front right pocket. Sometimes I carry it in a 5.11 Holster Shirt. This is actually my preferred method of carrying my BUG, but I only have the one shirt, so only use it once or twice a week. Someday soon I'm going to get down to GT Distributors and buy a couple more.

My daily carry loadout is similar to yours: Hi-Power carried OWB as primary, 2 extra mags in an OWB carrier (worn at around 8:00), a left front pocket-carried Inova Bolt flashlight, Kershaw Storm II folder in my back right pocket, plus my BUG and a pocket-carried extra mag for it.

Quite the opposite of you, I started out with just a PA-63 in an IWB holster, and a pocket-carried extra mag. Not completely confident in my PA-63, I purchased the Hi-Power, and kept the PA-63 as an at-home gun, occasionally carrying it as a BUG (such as when I was traveling). I then got the flashlight, which has been one of the most useful additions to my carry loadout. About the same time (perhaps just before), I started carrying the knife again - I used to carry one all the time, but kept losing or breaking them. Not content with pocket-carrying a 15-round magazine, I had a belt carrier made, and found that two mags balance me out on the belt much better than one, so I started carrying two spares for the Hi-Power. I finally went and bought a proper BUG, the Ruger LCP. Honestly, I usually forget it's even there - it is so small and light (9.4 oz, less than 7/8" in thickness). The holster shirt makes it even more convenient to carry, but I have caught myself more than once about to walk into a prohibited building (college building) after disarming, suddenly realizing that my LCP is still in my pants pocket.

So no, I don't find the BUG prohibitive in weight or bulk. My gear is pretty well distributed, so I steer true.

[bryang]

When I am out and about I always carry my .45 1911 IWB, 4:30, with a spare mag on the left side 8:00. When I am around the house, or making short trips to the store, I carry my LCP in my pocket. The LCP is very easy to carry. I don't usually carry both of them at the same time unless, I know that I will be in a bad area or on the road to Dallas. I have to go to Dallas Medical City three or four times a year and we have to stay a couple of nights in a motel ....then...I carry them both with a spare mag for the LCP!!

-geo

[jbirds1210]

I tried an ankle holster many years ago and didn't like it at all, but I haven't tried one recently.
Chas.

You should try out a Galco ankle glove...I have one that you can borrow for a day or two, but I'm afraid it wont fit anything designed before 1986

I can carry my little G26 all day in scrubs and rarely think about it.

Jason

[nuparadigm]

No. Now that I'm retired, I don't feel the need to carry a Nose Gun (the term my agency used when referencing what most others refer to as a "back up gun").

[NcongruNt]

No. Now that I'm retired, I don't feel the need to carry a Nose Gun (the term my agency used when referencing what most others refer to as a "back up gun").

I'm guessing that the term originated when nearly all BUGs used my LEOs were snub-nosed revolvers.

not this:

[nuparadigm]

No. Now that I'm retired, I don't feel the need to carry a Nose Gun (the term my agency used when referencing what most others refer to as a "back up gun").

I'm guessing that the term originated when nearly all BUGs used my LEOs were snub-nosed revolvers.

Nope. The term originated from the designation of the part of the human body in which the muzzle of the Nose Gun must be placed before firing in order to ensure the cessation of hostilities on the part of the miscreant. Any other point of aim for small caliber weapons was/is considered questionable for ending a fight with it.

[Charles L. Cotton]

I tried an ankle holster many years ago and didn't like it at all, but I haven't tried one recently.
Chas.

You should try out a Galco ankle glove...I have one that you can borrow for a day or two, but I'm afraid it wont fit anything designed before 1986

I can carry my little G26 all day in scrubs and rarely think about it.

Jason

I'd like to take you up on that. Martha has a G27 I could use. At least with it covered by my pant leg, none of my friends will see me with it.

Chas.

[Mike from Texas]

Yep, my primary varies between my Ultra Carry (carried most often) with 2 spare mags, My G29, or my G19. If my clothing of choice for the day allows me, I will carry the G21but it's a big gun. But, my P3AT is in my pocket every time I have pants on.

[slowpoke]

My primary is kimber cdp on my right hip at3:00.With a s&w 642 in right front pocket.